Spread a Little Sunshine
by Fangirlandtheories
Summary: When Eve and Flynn notice something off about Ezekiel, they decide to try to make him a bit happier.


Spread a Little Sunshine:

 **A/N: Kira: Ask and ye shall receive.** **For everyone else: Heyyyyyyyyy! My first Stumpy fix it fic! My girl Kira was looking for some and could only find a few so I wanted to make her one! Anytime any of you have a request hit me up and I'll do my best. Hope you guys enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except the Whump Kingdom and the reigning title of Whump Queen.**

It was impossible not to notice. It was in the way he walked. How his smile wasn't quite as bright. Those quick comebacks were delivered with less fire. The thief just wasn't himself. It started out slow. Little ticks. Ezekiel would be laughing and carrying on, nothing wrong. Then he'd get a glint in his eye, a ghost from the past, and he would get quiet. It never lasted more than a few minutes and if you didn't know him, you'd never notice. That's probably why Flynn didn't notice. Then it became slightly more noticeable. He became intensely focused on work. His perfect posture turned into a slouch of exhaustion. Those nimble hands slowed, and eventually stilled, not even bothering to steal. Ezekiel was… not Ezekiel.

"Eve?" Flynn hissed as he slurped his coffee. He looked over at his girlfriend, basking in her beauty. She wore her hair in a loose ponytail, just the way he loved it. Her blue eyes deep with concern. He followed that gaze to the window seat of the Annex. In that seat was none other then Ezekiel Jones. He was just sitting there, staring out the window. Technically, he wasn't doing anything. That's what was so concerning. He was _**always**_ moving, doing something. "How long this time?"

"It's been 20 minutes." She told him, not removing her eyes from the youngest Librarian. "He hasn't moved an inch. I'm actually worried now. I haven't seen him eat, sleep, or leave the Annex in three days."

"That's natural. Some people handle… stress…differently." Flynn may not have noticed the subtle changes at first, but he began to see them after only a short while later. When he did, the questions began. That was how he found out about the video game. It didn't take long for them to discover that Ezekiel remembered the loop. It took even less time for Ezekiel to realize that they knew he remembered, so he didn't even bother hiding it.

"I wish we could do something, anything." She sighed turning to look at him, his eyes dark brown and full of love.

"What do you propose?" He cooed. "What do you get a thief that can steal anything?"

"Something he can't steal!" Eve exclaimed excitedly.

"Like…?" Flynn was lost.

"Love! He's a good thief but not _**that**_ good." Eve laughed, taking in Flynn's expression.

"Are you suggesting… kidnapping…?" Flynn was beyond lost.

"What? No. Of course not!" Eve hit his shoulder lightly. "No, something he can love and cuddle."

"Like… a pet?" Flynn asked, hoping they were not about to commit a crime.

"Yes! Exactly!" It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. "He did have a pet, but that didn't last very long. Poor guy sacrificed himself for Ezekiel."

"Well that's also traumatic." Flynn sighed.

"His name was Stumpy and he was the World's Most Loyal Gargoyle. You should've seen Ezekiel. He was torn up about it for weeks. He keeps the pieces in a little box under his bed.

"Wait it was a gargoyle?" Flynn's eyes lit up.

"Yes…" She answered skeptically.

"And that he still has the pieces?" He was growing more excited.

"Yes. Now are you going to tell me what's going on in that wonderful mind of yours?" She asked smiling lightly as he gave her a light peck on the lips.

"Ugh. Gross." A voice was heard. They broke apart with a light smile. Ezekiel stood before them, looking worse for wear. He was obviously trying to keep his stance casual but his exhaustion showed through. His eyes weren't quite as bright.

"Be quiet." Eve chuckled as she stood from the table, ruffling his hair. She knew that it annoyed him. That's why she did it. She would take anything over his normal sad disposition. Just as she expected, he batted her hands away.

"So what do 'Mom and Dad' have planned for today?" He asked, receiving an expected glare from Eve. He loved getting a rise out of her. It was one of the few things that gave him joy as of late. "And please, _please_ don't say more making out."

"We have some… lab work… to do, right Eve?" He threw an obvious wink at her.

"Uhm, yes! Yes we do." Eve stuttered.

"Okay that was the least stealthy thing I've ever seen. And I've seen Cassandra try to sneak out of Jake's room. What are you _really_ doing today?" Ezekiel squinted at them, clearly not backing down.

"Uhm-" Flynn wasn't expecting this.

"Making out. Y'know couple stuff. Really hot and heavy." Eve shut her eyes as soon as she said it. Her face burned with embarrassment. When she opened her eyes she saw a disgusted Ezekiel and an intrigued Flynn.

"Alright alright, enough said, I'll leave you two to… do what you do… as long as it's not each other." Ezekiel grimaced as Flynn made a biting motion at Eve.

"No promises." Flynn laughed. "You've been working really hard lately, maybe you should take a break. Go out and do something or maybe play a video-" He cut himself off making the blunder **very** clear. He wanted to rewind and try again but it was far too late. The air of happiness dissipated quickly.

"Uhm, yeah. Maybe." Ezekiel looked away. Eve seized that moment to glare at Flynn. "I-I'm just going to go do some research."

"Well…" Flynn said lowly as he watched the boy walk away. "I fucked that up."

"You think?" Eve huffed. "This had better be a damn good idea because this cannot continue."

"Yes. Yes it is." He grabbed her hand, placing a light kiss onto the small scar on the knuckle on her ring finger. Then, he took the hand and pulled her down the long aisles of the library. "Follow me!" He, not so gracefully, began knocking things off of shelves. Apparently this was his method of looking for something. Suddenly he lifted a vial from a shelf. The liquid inside was gold and glittery. "This. This is what I was looking for."

"A tube of glitter. Nice. What are we going to do, arts and craft Stumpy back together?" Eve asked with a light chuckle.

"Oh ye of little faith. This is magic. All we need is the pieces." Flynn smiled mischievously. Eve did not like that look in his eyes.

"Oh no. We are not." She growled.

"Oh yes. We're breaking into Ezekiel's bedroom." Eve wasn't a huge fan of invading the privacy of those close to her, but she also _really_ wanted to make Ezekiel happy again. So they entered his room. It wasn't nearly as messy as they expected it to be. The bed was made neatly with a little stuffed koala on it that was fairly worn.

"He's probably had that since he was a kid." Eve smiled at the toy. She liked seeing things that reminded her of how young Ezekiel was.

"Got it!" Flynn pulled a shoebox full of rubble out from beneath the bed. He uncorked the vial and added a drip of the golden liquid to the box. It glowed brightly. "That should do the trick." Just as he said that, the pieces of stone began to fly together, creating Stumpy once again. They set him on Ezekiel's computer desk, where they were sure he'd be seen. They only had to wait for Ezekiel to enter his room again to see him. That's only like an hour… right?

One hour turned into six. It wasn't until 10 pm that Baird decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Go." She towered above him, closing him laptop.

"What?" Ezekiel gave her a strange expression.

"You haven't slept in days. Go." She ordered. He made a move to protest, but she gave him a stern glare. "Ezekiel Jones, so help me God, I will ground you."

"Alright, alright, _**Mom**_." He put his hands up in surrender. Eve and Flynn followed behind him as he trudged up to his room.

What Eve expected to have happen was that he'd see the statue and be happy. What she didn't expect was that a puppy would come running at them as soon as they opened the door.

"What the hell…" Ezekiel asked slowly as the puppy jumped around his feet. "How did you get in there buddy?" Eve glanced over at the smiling, smug expression on her boyfriend's face.

"Yeah Flynn, how did he get in there?" Eve asked.

"Well," Flynn pulled out the vial. "This takes the spirit of the creature and turns it into the mundane animal it is most like. In this case, Stumpy was essentially a magical golden retriever. This just changes them into that form, but only at night. During the day, he's your average gargoyle. At night, he's man's best friend."

"Y-You did this?" Ezekiel turned to them, now holding Stumpy.

"You've been so sad lately. We just wanted to cheer you up." Eve cooed as she ran her hand through his hair.

"That's… That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you. Thank you so much." He snuggled Stumpy close to him.

"You're very welcome. Now, go get some sleep." Flynn laughed.

"Deal." Ezekiel went to lay down, Stumpy followed suit, circling a few times then laying right on his feet. He fell asleep holding his puppy. He awoke holding his gargoyle.

"So…" Flynn pulled Eve into a tight side hug as they pulled the door closed. "About that making out…"

 **A/N: Ayyyyy! I finished this whole thing in about 3 hours. It's 3 am. I'm beat. This one goes out to The Queen of Angst, The Sinner of Spokane, Kirrra. I hope you guys enjoyed! I love you all more than sleep. ~FGaT XOXOXOXOXOXOXO**


End file.
